Archive for December, 2012

Oh My Glob Everyone!

I was so friggin pumped when I realized that Pretty and Polished was making the Mathematical!! collection based off the show Adventure Time! As you may well know by now, my boyfriend and I are completely obsessed with the show. We even dressed up at Princess Bubblegum and Finn for Halloween! I set my alarm for the minute these got released and snagged 5 minis from the 8 polish collection. I’ll more than likely go back for the full sized bottles at some point because this collection is totally shmowzow!

If you’re not familiar with Adventure Time, I’ll try to briefly describe it to you. It’s an American tv show on Cartoon Network that follows a 14-year-old boy named Finn the Human and his yellow dog named Jake (who has magical powers) through the post-apocalyptic world called Land of Ooo. Some other outstanding characters in the show are: Princess Bubblegum, the ruler of Candy Kingdom; The Ice King, kinda evil but mostly just wants to marry all the PRINCESSES!!; Lumpy Space Princess, who is pretty much a lumpy valley girl; Marceline, the coolest sorta evil-but-not-really hipster vampire; Lady Rainicorn, Jake’s girlfriend (he’s the only one that understand what she’s saying…) who is half rainbow and half unicorn; and Beemo/BMO, the most adorable handheld gaming system ever. There are TONS of other characters and lots of back-story. So if you enjoy reading check out the wiki and wikia pages! ^_^

Enough of my rambling, let’s get to the swatches!

I’m Not A Banana!

First up is I’m Not A Banana! This one is based on Jake the Dog. The yellow jelly is a perfect match for his fur color, and I love the black and white hex glitter! This one was pretty sheer but I was able to build it to an opacity I liked after 4 coats. I didn’t have any issue with getting the hex glitter out of the bottle and it dried relatively quickly for as much as I used. I’ll have to search through my yellows to see if I have something similar to layer it with next time. Maybe Cult Nails Feel Me Up?

King Of C-C-Cool

King of C-C-Cool is based on the Ice King and it’s so awesome! I have nothing like this polish in my collection at all. It’s a blue squishy creme/jelly base filled with blue micro-shimmer, tiny red square glitter, blue and yellow hex glitter, and white diamond glitter! I absolutely LOVE this one. I used 3 coats here and had no issues getting a good amount of each type of glitter on my nails. No dabbing necessary even though there’s so much going on!

Lumps

My Lumps represents the ever awesome Lumpy Space Princess, and is a sheer purple jelly filled with yellow and purple glitter shards and blurple micro-shimmer. This was the only one I chose to layer out of the group. It looked too sheer to build up on its own but in hindsight I believe you can get this one to opacity after 4 coats. Shown here is 3 coats over A England Guinevere. You can’t even really see my base polish at all anymore (except for maybe my pinky which I think I accidentally only did 2 coats of My Lumps :P).

This is another unique one for me in my collection. I loved the yellow flash in the purple! The glitter was fairly easy to place, just make sure you wait between coats so you don’t drag it. And a good top coat will keep the surface smooth.

Peebles

Peebles is named after Princess Bubblegum (who is often referred to as PB or Peebles in the show). This one is a squishy bubblegum pink jelly with fuchsia micro-shimmer and pink and yellow hex glitter. I looooooove this one, but I may be partial because PB is my favorite character in the show. I used 3 coats here.

The Young Hero

And lastly, we have The Young Hero! This one is named after Finn the Human and it’s another favorite for me in the collection. The Young Hero is a squishy white creme/jelly hybrid filled with blue and yellow small glitters, small blue hex glitter, light blue square glitter and light green hex glitter. LOVE!

I’ve been wearing this one for a few days now. The cashier as PetSmart stopped me dead in the middle of my transaction to gush about my nails when I had this on! She thought I’d put the glitter in there myself.
You all get TWO macro shots of The Young Hero because you’re that special to me, haha. That and you can see the green hex glitter in the first macro.

Application for The Young Hero was a little tricky. It was hard to get it to level out to even coat on some nails but I managed to get it all under control at 4 thin coats. If you wait between coats or layer it over a white base (I didn’t do either of those things, haha) you might have an easier time of it. But it was totally worth the effort because this final result is effing gorgeous!
And here’s a few bonus shots of the mini bottles with the new Pretty and Polished labels. I love that each bottle has little colored polish drops that reflect the colors inside each individual polish! Very cute!

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Final Thoughts:

Even if I weren’t partial to Adventure Time I would still give my picks from this collection an A+++++! Every single polish from the collection is entirely unique to my stash and they all have something great to offer. Not to mention, they’re just so dang fun! I think each one accurately represents the whimsical (and slightly off the wall) nature of the television show, and each polish is a perfect representation of the characters that inspired them. Dare I say that if I made a top 10 indie collection list for 2012, the Mathematical!! collection would be on that list for sure!

Do you need these? Get the math outta here with that question, heck yeah you need them!

Purchase Info:

The entire Pretty and Polished Mathematical!! collection can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. Each polish retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.

For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!

Allo Everyone!

Welcome to Day 3 of my mini Pretty and Polished spam! Today I have Pretty As A Peacock to share with you all! This one is a beauty, so let’s get to the swatches!

Pretty and Polished – Pretty As A Peacock

Pretty As A Peacock has a dark emerald green base that’s filled with multi-sized blue, teal, purple, and green glitter. There’s a lot going on and it’s alllll good. Chels Marie was inspired by the plumage of male peacocks, and I think she nailed this one perfectly!

I layered 2 coats of Pretty As A Peacock over Paint Box Polish Northern Lights, but honestly I think Pretty As A Peacock is opaque enough to be built up on its own. I’ll have to try it next time I decide to wear it.
Here’s a macro shot for ya! This polish is busy in all the right ways!

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Final Thoughts:

So I have a bit of an obsession with birds. I have a small owl tattoo on my ankle, a HUGE phoenix spanning from my ribs to my knee, and I’m currently working on the sketching of my owl half sleeve with my tattoo artist! And peacocks are on my list of avian loves, so I’m sure I’ll find a spot to get one of them tattooed on me too. This polish is truly amazing and it definitely captures the spirit of the bird in the nail polish. I had no application issues whatsoever with Pretty As A Peacock, so that also constitutes as a win in my books!

Purchase Info:

Pretty and Polished Pretty As A Peacock can be purchased from their online store, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. It retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.

For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

Allo Everyone!

Welcome to Day 2 of my Pretty and Polished Extravaganza, haha! I’ve got another holiday collection polish to share with you all today. This time we’re gonna check out Pretty and Polished S’no Mans Land. Let’s get straight to it, shall we? ^_^

Pretty and Polished – S’no Mans Land

S’no Mans Land is a frosty white polish filled with satin white hex glitter and small iridescent glitter. At first I was incredibly frustrated with this polish. It looked so pretty in the bottle and when I tried to wear it alone it was a frosty-streak filled disaster for me. What I quickly learned about S’no Mans Land is that you need patience to get it to work for you and not against you. What you also need to do is layer this sucker, unless you don’t mind the frosty finish when worn alone.

What you see above is 1 THIN coat of S’no Mans Land layered over OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. This turned out to be my favorite combo for this polish. This turned out quite pretty when done this way. But make sure your coats are thiiiiinnn, I made the coat on my pointer finger just a little too thick and it started looking pearly again.

The hex glitter is sparse but fishing wasn’t necessary, and I would not recommend fishing for this polish because it’ll just make your nails look like a mess, hah!
And here is a shot of 2 coats of S’no Mans Land on its own. I only did my pinky before I gave up on it to go with my layering combo instead. I mean, it’s certainly not the worst thing I’ve ever seen. But it was just too frosty on its own for me.

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Final Thoughts:

While not my favorite polish of the holiday collection that I’ve tried, S’no Mans Land can be saved! ^_^ If you layer it over white it has quite the ethereal look thanks to the hex and iridescent glitter. Once I learned how to work with S’no Mans Land I really did love how it looked layered!

But bear in mind that it can be tricky to work with. And if frosty finish nail polishes are the bane of your existence, or you don’t like to layer your polishes then this may not be the polish you are looking for.

Purchase Info:

Pretty and Polished S’no Mans Land can be purchased from Chels Marie’s new shop, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. It retails at $5.00 for the mini and $9 for the full sized bottle. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.

For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

Allo Everyone!

So we’re going to be going on a Pretty and Polished adventure for the next few days! AKA, I have a TON of new Pretty and Polished lovelies that I’ve been collecting for the past few weeks that I need to share with you all before I burst, haha! First up today is the Pretty and Polished Happy Holodays Duo! This duo consists of Ruby (a scattered holo jelly) and an un-named green/red holo glitter top coat.

Pretty and Polished – Happy Holodays Duo

IT’S A WRAP FOLKS. Stick a fork in me cause I’m done! This is SUCH a winning holiday combo! The glitter topper (renamed Holy Sh*t! by yours truly) is a gorgeous mix of green and red hex glitter in a clear base, with some of the glitters being holographic. I immediately turned to my boyfriend and said “WELP. Holiday mani locked and loaded!” He knowledgeably agreed.

Shown here is 2 coats of the glitter topper over Ruby. Super easy formula to work with AND LOOK AT THAT MACRO. ♥
And here’s the base polish Ruby on its own, a gorgeous cranberry red scattered holographic jelly. I literally squealed out loud when I put this on my nails. It’s so damn pretty, and super pigmented! This is just 2 coats! And there was no staining after I took it off. Hai nails, me my new favorite red jelly polish! Formula was perfection as well, it wasn’t runny at all and Ruby practically painted itself on my nails. ^_^

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Final Thoughts:

Everything that is Christmas, and Santa, and evergreen, and winter lived in these two bottles of polish. But for reals, I have been a fan of Pretty and Polish for over a year now. She knows her stuff and her polishes are pretty fantastic folks. In my opinion, the Happy Holodays Duo are definite must-haves for the holiday/holoday season! ^_^

Purchase Info:

The Pretty and Polished Happy Holodays Duo can be purchased from Chels Marie’s new shop, www.shopprettyandpolished.com. The price of the duo starts at $9.00 for the minis and goes up from there. You can also still find Pretty and Polished on her Etsy Shop.

For updates and previews of new collections, follow Pretty and Polished on Facebook and Twitter!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

Morning Everyone!

I’m suuuuuper pumped to be able to share this polish with you all today. I have been lusting over Emily de Molly polishes ever since I first stumbled across her Etsy shop earlier this past Spring. Sadly for me, she is based out of Australia and the turn around time for shipping nail polish from AUS was a staggering 3 months! And that’s if it showed up at all. As much as I loved her polishes, that was just too risky for me and I just came to the belief that I would never own a ‘de Molly’ polish. And after a while she stopped shipping internationally altogether on her Etsy page.

Then Leah Ann of Llarowe came to the rescue! She started to stock Emily de Molly! And my nails rejoiced, haha! I immediately snatched up Black Forest because it was at the top of my DO WANT list for months. ^_^

Emily de Molly – Black Forest

Emily de Molly Black Forest is a BEAST! This super black jelly is chock-full of multi-sized iridescent green hex glitter. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! I decided to layer 2 coats of Black Forest over 1 coat of black (A England Camelot), and oh-my-glob-you-guys, it’s beautiful!

The polish was easy to apply and I didn’t have to fish for glitter at all. I added a coat of Gelous before adding my top coat to get a super smooth finish. But you may not even need to do that. I didn’t wait for it to fully dry to see if it had any bumpy texture before adding my TC.
Sorry guys, I could not get a decent macro shot of Black Forest to save my life! I took about 10 macro shots and this was the best one from the lot. Bah.

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Final Thoughts:

I love Black Forest and I’m so happy that there is a way to acquire Emily de Molly polishes internationally now! The way I feel about Emily de Molly is the way I feel about Pokemon, GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL!

Purchase Info:

Emily de Molly polishes can be purchased from her Etsy Shop for residents of Australia only. Outside of Australia your current options are Llarowe or Shoppe Eclecticco, who both ship worldwide! Pricing ranges depending on the E-Tailer, so check each individual shop for pricing and shipping charges/policies. ^_^

Morning Everyone!

I’m gonna try to knock out my holiday nail polish collections over the next week for those that want to see them. Today I’ve got my picks from Paint Box Polish to share with you all, Northern Lights and Santa’s Britches!

Northern Lights

Northern Lights is really stunning! This polish is a gorgeous teal blue jelly filled with flakies and golden shimmer. We’re in love. At some angles it almost seems a little duo-chromatic, shifting from a teal to a deeper blue. I used 4 coats here since it’s pretty sheer, but I love jellies so I didn’t mind. I’ll have to try layering Northern Lights over a dark blue next time to see how that looks as well! ^_^

Santa’s Britches

Santa’s Britches is a red jelly filled with green, gold and silver (glass fleck-like) shimmer. This one was another sheer, yet buildable polish! I used 4 coats here.

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Final Thoughts:

This was my first experience with Paint Box Polish and I really enjoyed both of my selections from her Holiday 2012 collection! Northern Lights is basically amazing, and reminds me of our own northern lights where I live in the U.P. of Michigan! And Santa’s Britches it probably one of my new favorite nail polish names, along with it being a great holiday color! Both of the polishes I played with today had great formulas are were easy to work with.

Purchase Info:

Paint Box Polish is a 3-Free and cruelty free indie brand. You can purchase Northern Lights, Santa’s Britches, and others from the Paint Box Polish Etsy Shop. Pricing ranges from $4.00 for 6ml minis to $8.50 for full sized bottles of polish.

UPDATE! – Pam was generous enough to create a 20% discount code for anyone that reads my little ‘ol blog post, haha. To get the discount, make you enter the code NAILSWINTER20 when you checkout. This code is good for the next 30 days!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

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Morning Everyone!

I’m back today with one of the new Ozotic polishes that I received from Picture Polish a while back. This one is Ozotic Sugar 904, a yellow glass fleck shimmer. This is a sheer polish on its own so I wanted to play around with it a bit and show you a few different ways that it can be worn!

Ozotic Sugar 904

Ozotic Sugar 904 is a shimmery iridescent sheer yellow glass fleck polish. It can be built up to opacity though, shown above is 4 coats on its own. I quite like it this way for a more delicate look.
Here I layered Ozotic Sugar 904 over several colors. On my pointer finger you have 904 on its own. My middle finger is 1 coat of 904 layered over black (A England Camelot). My ring finger is 1 coat of 904 layered over a green (OPI Jade Is The New Black), and finally on my pinky I have 1 coat of Ozotic Sugar 904 layered over white (OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls).
Macro of Ozotic Sugar 904 on its own.
Macro of 904 over black. The green in the glass flecks really come out with this layering.904 layered over green. The yellow flecks are in full effect here.
And finally 904 over white. This time the glass flecks take on an opalescent tone. I love it!

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Final Thoughts:

I will admit that I was a little hesitant when I first looked at this polish. It looked like it would be too sheer, and a sheer yellow on nails didn’t sound like a good life plan. But once I actually tried it I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Ozotic 904! The application was effortless and it has a good formula. Dry time on its own is a bit extended but at that point you’re dealing with 4 coats of polish. Dry time layered over other colors seems typical. The layering possibilities are virtually endless!

I have a few more polishes from Picture Polish that I’ll be playing with over the next few weeks so stay tuned! ^_^

Purchase Info:

Ozotic Sugar 904 and other Ozotic polishes can be purchased from the following E-Tailers: Picture Polish, you can also check out the Picture Polish Network Page for other worldwide E-Tailers. Prices per bottle range depending on the E-Tailier, so please check out their individual policies at each website.

Picture Polish has Facebook and Twitter so don’t forget to check them out there too for updates!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

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Morning Everyone!

I’m back with Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles to share with you all today! This polish is just… WOW. So gorgeous! I believe that Ballerina Sprinkles is one of Chelsea’s older polishes that has been revived with her brand new bottle shape and label, and I’m so excited that it’s mine! My precioussssssssss…

Off topic, but I am SO pumped for The Hobbit coming out on the 14th!!

Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles

Ballerina Sprinkles is a delicate powder blue light holographic, with a golden/pink shimmer. Think Sinful Colors Cinderella. But prettier. And a far better formula. And on steroids. ♥ I just…. I DIE! The holo really comes out to play in direct sunlight, or in my case with camera flash because it was probably 4am when I was playing with this nail polish.

Application was easy-peasy, this is 3 thin coats but I probably could have stopped at 2.
And here’s a macro shot. Have a drool bib ready. Oh, maybe I should have warned you before the macro. TOO LATE.
I wanted to show you just how AMAZING this polish looked with camera flash/midnight sun (teehee) because OMG. Look at that complexity!!
And finally some bottle shots to show off the pretty shimmer and the new labels! Did I mention I’m a sucker for rectangle bottles! Rectangle shaped bottles and my IKEA Helmer are OTP.

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Final Thoughts:

If you haven’t guessed yet, I absolutely ADORE this nail polish! I’m a sucker for these baby blues and add in the shimmer and holo and I’m in flippin’ heaven y’all! The formula on every single Enchanted Polish that I own is perfection, and that’s truly a feat for holos because even mass-produced brands can’t get that ish right half the time! If you don’t own Ballerina Sprinkles, keep an eye out for the next restock date. You NEED this one in your collection. And I NEED this one on my toes for my next pedi!

Purchase Info:

Enchanted Polish Ballerina Sprinkles will be available for purchase from the following E-Tailers: Llarowe, Pshiiit Boutique, Harlow & Co., and Mei Mei Signatures. Prices per bottle range depending on the E-Tailier, so please check out their individual policies at each website.

It’s not currently in stock at the time of this post, but you can follow Enchanted Polish on their Facebook or Twitter fan pages to stay updated on restock/release dates and upcoming collections!

* The product(s) in this post were sent to me for unbiased review consideration.

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Morning Everyone!

I’m sorry for falling off the face of the polish earth. I’ve been around, just not around on the blog so much. I’m quite a few days behind on the 31 Day Challenge but I will work on getting caught up. Thanksgiving had me SUPER busy (if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you know how much I had to cook!), and afterward I’ve just been going through a blah phase I think. I actually hadn’t repainted my nails after Day 22, and my Gangnam style nails didn’t get removed until 2 days ago!

But anyway, I’m getting back into it because I’m WAY behind on things I need to show you guys. Today I’ve got a Brazilian brand that’s completely new to me, Kolt Dual Chromes! When I received these from Harlow & Co. I decided right away that I was going to layer them. I used A England Camelot (my faaaaaaaavorite black nail polish) as my base for each polish.

This post is SUPER picture heavy so I’m putting it behind a cut. I used 2 coats of each polish over one coat of black. I’ll go over application and formula in my final thoughts since it was similar for all 7 polishes.